Image from Pixabay.
By Brooke Edwards
More than 600 people have flown to space, yet less than 80 are female. This statistic mirrors how women are viewed by society, as well as themselves. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Today, many of the science and technology roles are still considered by some to be a “man’s job”.
Reflecting on Women’s History Month, I felt the need to research women who have contributed greatly to astronomy or space exploration. A lot of what I found surprised me, especially one historic event few know about that happened right here in Michigan.
Vera Rubin was born in Philadelphia in 1928 and had a thirst for knowledge about the stars from an early age. When she was 14, Vera’s father helped her build her first telescope. She went on to become an astronomer. Her work on galaxy rotation rates provided the first evidence for the existence of dark matter. She published her research on the subject in the 1970s. Scientists today are still working to decode the mystery of dark matter, an invisible substance that makes up a significant percentage of the universe. The answers might be found by astronomers at an observatory currently being built in Chile. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to be fully operational by October 2024 and will feature a 3.2-gigapixel digital camera, the largest ever constructed. It will be used to study dark energy and dark matter, map the Milky Way and near-Earth asteroids, and detect transient astronomical events such as novae, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, quasars and gravitational lensing.
Jeannette Piccard became, in 1934, the first female balloon pilot to reach the stratosphere. The rarely-talked-about event happened right here in Michigan. Jeannette and her scientist husband took off from then Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan. In their pressurized gondola, the couple reached an altitude of more than 57,000 feet ⸺ an unheard-of altitude at that time. Jeannette faced many difficulties finding sponsors for the flight, as not many believed in sending a female on such a heroic and scientific journey. It was thanks to Henry Ford’s futuristic mindset that the flight was sponsored and took off from Michigan. For years, Jeannette was considered “the first woman in space.” She never flew again but became a consultant for NASA.
Katherine Johnson began working as a mathematician for NASA in 1953. She calculated flight paths and orbital mechanics, from the first crewed spaceflights through the Apollo missions. Every single mathematical detail of the flights had Johnson and her team behind it. Think of NASA at the time ⸺ mostly white males. Being a female would have been intimidating, but a Black female? Her bravery, intelligence and skill were rewarded in 2015, when President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2019, the United States Congress awarded Johnson the Congressional Gold Medal. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson in the film “Hidden Figures” in 2016.
Valentina Tereshkova, a woman with a passion for skydiving, never imaged what life had in store for her. Valentina was selected as a Russian cosmonaut, becoming the first and youngest woman in space. In 1963, she flew the Vostok 6, orbiting Earth 48 times, and is still the only woman to have been on a solo space mission.
Frances “Poppy” Northcutt was the first female engineer to work in technical mission control at NASA. She and her team designed the trajectory that the Apollo 8 crew flew from the Moon to Earth. The second crewed Apollo mission and the first to leave Earth orbit, Apollo 8 orbited the Moon and returned to Earth in 1968. She and her team computed the maneuvers used to return Apollo 13 safely, after one of their oxygen tanks had exploded. At the time, her team received no recognition as the focus was on the three astronauts and flight director Gene Kranz. Northcutt and the Mission Operations Team were later honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Team Award for their work.
Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist in her early 30s, was hired by NASA as the lead developer for Apollo flight software. In 1965, she became the director of the Software Engineering Division. She led the team that developed the software for the Apollo 11 mission. During it, three minutes before reaching the Moon’s surface, several computer alarms went off. Margaret’s ultra-reliable software design allowed Mission Control to understand the problem and proceed, saving the Apollo 11 moon landing. She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Svetlana Savitskaya, a Russian cosmonaut, became the second woman in space in 1982 aboard Soyuz T-7, almost 20 years after Valentina flew. She was the first woman to fly to space twice, and the first to perform a spacewalk in 1984. There is an asteroid named after her.
Sally Ride was on track to become a tennis player when she fell in love with physics. Her fight to study physics eventually led to her acceptance into the NASA astronaut class of 1978. This was the first class that accepted female candidates. In 1983, 20 years after Valentina flew to space, Sally became the first American woman in space.
Mae Jemison had the honor of becoming the first Black female to fly to space in 1992, only 31 years ago. She is an engineer and a physician. She served as a mission specialist on NASA’s STS-47 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which orbited the Earth for almost eight days. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards.
Eileen Collins, a United States Air Force colonel, became the first female to pilot and command a space shuttle mission, STS-93, in July 1999. She flew on four shuttle missions. These missions included rendezvousing with the Russian space station Mir; docking with Mir and bringing astronaut Michael Foale for a four-month stay while returning astronaut Jerry Linenger, now retired and living in northern Michigan, back to Earth; deploying the Chandra X-ray Observatory; and docking with the International Space Station (ISS).
Jessica Meir and Christina Koch, NASA astronauts and best friends, performed the first all-female spacewalk in October 2019. During the seven-plus-hour spacewalk, they replaced a controller that regulates the batteries storing solar power for the ISS. They hope to be chosen for NASA’s Artemis mission that will land on the Moon.
Most of these women have earned too many honors and awards to list here. These are only some of the amazing women who have pioneered humanity’s efforts to understand the Universe and our place in it. Many more are sure to follow.
Sources: NASA and the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum, Women of Apollo.
Brooke Edwards is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. She lives in Manistee and has given area presentations and hosted night-sky viewings. Her next Star Party takes place at 8:30 p.m., April 21, at Orchard Beach State Park in Manistee. The event is in celebration of International Dark Sky Week and will include discussion of the importance of dark skies by a member of Dark Sky Michigan. The event is hosted by the Friends of Orchard Beach State Park. Follow Brooke on Instagram at: brooke_of_stars
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